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Events open only to a specific group of people or after-thefact announcements and photos are published in community
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o you’ve met “an injured soldier” who
needs $50,000 to
aid his recovery.
If you’re a wealthy
woman in a swanky
Mediterranean resort,
would you give him the
money?

AIMEE DILGER/THE TIMES LEADER

Rich Kramer directs his cast during a rehearsal for Gaslight Theatre’s production of ‘Death of a Salesman.’ ON
THE COVER: In a tense moment, Linda Loman, played by Carol Warholak Sweeney, and her son Happy, played
by Matt Hinton, hold back Biff Loman, played by Billy Joe Herbert, from his dad, Willy, played by John Sherrick.

Meet one classic dysfunctional family
By MARY THERESE BIEBEL
mbiebel@timesleader.com

the play is a failure on the part
of the whole family beginning
with Willy and (his wife) Linda, to really treat issues and
situations as they are.”
Deception of all sorts seems
to be the family legacy: Willy
lies to Linda about making
sales. Their grown sons exaggerate job titles and business
possibilities. Linda refuses to
confront Willy about evidence
he’s considering suicide, pretending everything is all right.
Would Willy’s life have been
better if he’d followed his older, more successful brother,
Ben, to Alaska? Or does Ben,
who wanders into Willy’s
thoughts now and again as a

visitor who made a fortune in
diamonds, even exist?
“We decided everything
that Ben did is all in Willy’s
imagination,” said Lee Thomas of Jackson Township,
who plays the adventurous
Ben.
“He’s dealing with fantasies
and early signs of dementia,”
said Carol Warholak Sweeney
of Dallas, who plays Linda as a
loving wife, patient with a husband who rarely lets her finish
a sentence.
“She was living in a time
when she had to be supportive,” said Sweeney, explaining
Linda tried to be nurturing,
but likely never thought of
venturing out to get a job herself and add to the household’s
meager income.
Billy Joe Herbert of Hughestown and Matt Hinton of
Wilkes-Barre, who portray Biff
and Happy, spent much of a recent rehearsal in motion, playing ball and exercising the way
the Loman brothers did in
See SALESMAN, Page 7

the Englishman, he gets a
few lessons in the polite and
charming way to be a con
artist. Then the two scoundrels discover the town isn’t
big enough to sustain both of
them.
They make a bet.
The one who succeeds in
bilking their target out of
$50,000 will be able to stay;
the other has to leave.
Naturally, Marone said,
they look for any opportunity to sabotage each other.
The play boasts plenty of
music by David Yazbeck,
who also composed the
score for “The Full Monty.”
“I think all the tunes are
catchy. I find myself singing
them at home,” Marone said,
admitting they’re really not
all that famous.
After all, did you ever hear
“Chimp in a Suit” or “Roughhousin’ mit Schaffhausen?”
Broadway Theatre League of
Northeastern Pennsylvania at
the Scranton Cultural Center,
420 N. Washington Ave., Scranton. 8 p.m. Jan. 20; 2 and 8
p.m. Jan. 21; and 1 and 6 p.m.
Jan. 22. 342-7784.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Auditions for “The Full Monty,”
a February production of the
Music Box Dinner Playhouse,
196 Hughes St., Swoyersville. 6
p.m. Tuesday. All roles open.
283-2195.

PAGE 3

hen Biff “borrowed”
a football from
school, his dad, Willy, said the coach would praise
his initiative.
When the youth and his
brother, Happy, stole lumber
from a construction site, Willy
bragged, “I’ve got a couple of
fearless characters here.”
And though Bernard, the
neighbor’s son, urged Biff to
study for his math test, Willy
thought it would be better if
Bernard just gave him the answers.
Welcome to “Death of a
Salesman,” an Arthur Miller
classic likely to make audience members cringe at every
bit of unfortunate advice Willy
Loman gives his sons.
“ ‘Cringe’ is the perfect
word,” said Rich Kramer, who
is directing the Gaslight Theatre Co. in the show at the
Mellow Theater in Scranton.
“Willy’s tragic flaw is that he
didn’t want to face the truth,”
Kramer said. “What we see in

IF YOU GO

Or would you be more likely to give it directly to the
“famous doctor” who can
help your new friend?
If you’re Christine in the
musical
“Dirty
Rotten
Scoundrels,” set to open
next weekend with the Pennsylvania Theatre of Performing Arts at the J.J. Ferrara
Center in Hazleton, you
shouldn’t hand the money to
either of these fellows.
They’re both swindlers,
and they’re just trying to con
you.
“One is a very refined English gentleman, and the
other is a gentleman from
America who, for lack of a
better term, is a bumbling,
vulgar idiot,” director Mike
Marone said.
When Freddie, the American, blackmails Lawrence,

IF YOU GO

Cheers!

By SARA POKORNY
spokorny@timesleader.com

PAGE 4

It’s not quite a winter warmer but also
not entirely a Belgian ale. Though the
exact style of the beer can’t be nailed
down, one thing is certain about St. Benedict’s Winter Ale: It’s delicious.
The beer, brewed by Stevens Point
Brewery in Wisconsin, is all over the
map.
As far as taste is concerned, St. Benedict’s has a little bit of everything. The
most apparent malts have a caramel
taste, and a subtle hint of fruit makes its
way into the mix. A touch of spice runs
over the tongue briefly before disappearing.
Most English winter warmers contain no spices, and those that do are considered to follow the “wassail” tradition
of blending robust ales with mixed spices, a process that took place before hops
became the chief spice in beer.
Despite all the flavors that go into the
brew, the overall feel doesn’t overwhelm. This characteristic is true
to the beer’s name, which comes
from St. Benedict of Nursia, who
lived in the late fifth and early
sixth centuries. He is most noted
for writing the Rule of St. Benedict, which teaches humility.
Despite the seemingly incoherent nature of the ingredients,
the beer’s medium body and
mild carbonation pull everything together to make for a
sippable and refreshing drink.
•••
ST. BENEDICT’S
WINTER ALE
Brewed by: Stevens Point
Brewery, Wisconsin
Style: Winter warmer
Alcohol by volume: 6.2 percent
Sold at: Goldstein’s Deli, 200
Pierce St., Kingston
Price: $2.75 per bottle; $12.99 per 6pack

Restaurant Review

Pick your pleasure at Fire and Ice

They had us at the bread. Hearth-baked
bread specifically, the rustic, chewy, crusty-yet-soft style tucked away under a linen
napkin so as not to let any of the heat
escape. That’s the fire part of Fire And Ice
on Toby Creek. But the bread is hardly
the only glorious thing to come out of a
reportedly giant hearth oven at which
we’d love to get a peek.
If the other teaser-starters were crafted
there, then, yes, this is an oven we’d truly
love to get to know better.
An Italian crepe manicotti ($8) stuffed
with free-range chicken, artichokes, ovendried tomatoes and ricotta cheeses was
more of a pull. This was simply superb,
pliant in the best possible way against a
fork and elevated to almost divine status
by a generous but not overpowering Asiago cream sauce. This was a shared app
that easily could have been a lovely smallplate meal.
Same goes for the appetizer portion of
one of four available risottos we sampled
for $7.50. Even above pumpkin and
butternut squash, roasted eggplant and
shrimp Gorgonzola risottos, something
called Piedmont Risotto simply called
our names and now owns our memories.
Arborio rice finished with Hillside
Farms cream amicably shared a blanket of two cheeses – a pointed, peppy
Asiago and a milder, smoother Provolone – and shreds of prosciutto
provided the crowning touch. The
dish offered a nice snap of salt, but
the creaminess took focus off potential sodium content. We’d go back
and order this as a main plate for
$15.95 without hesitation, and that’s
saying something. Rice as a main
course doesn’t always sail our vessel.
About those main courses: a seafood special mostly hit the mark,
while a baked lobster crab cake went up
and over it. And a sandwich version of a
steak actually impressed more than a

DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER

A frozen-plate salad or a hearth-baked delight? Or both? Pick your pleasure at Fire
and Ice restaurant in Trucksville.

pricier steak itself, but that was perhaps
owing to a taster with a preference for
medium-well erring on the side of medium who found his $32 8-ounce filet mignon lacking any pink at all and therefore a
bit dry. His complaint? “Medium,” “medium-rare” or “medium well” should be
universal but seemingly aren’t. Another
diner who prefers rare erring on the side
of blue found a similar steak much more
to his liking.
A guest who went for a budget “pub
plate” choice of a grilled prime-rib sandwich for $9.50, however, was not only
impressed but happy to take her delicious
second half home for another go-round.
This sandwich, on hearth bread, draws
much of its flavor from horseradish sauce,
caramelized onions and cheddar and
Cooper cheeses. Fresh-cut fries were a
beautiful bonus.
A $29 sea bass stacked with spinach,
sun-dried tomatoes, earthy, honest mushrooms and two cheeses was a mesmerizing combo, with only a minor complaint
that the fish itself was somewhat bland –
the reason for the lovely layers of accompaniments? – and that two or three red

IF YOU GO
What: Fire and Ice on Toby Creek
Where: 1 1 1 South Main St., Trucksville
Call: 570-696-3580
Credit cards? Yes
Handicapped accessible? Four steps in front
On the Web: www.fireandiceontobycreek.com

beets added as garnish were a bit leaky
for one who does not love the basic beet
flavor. Otherwise the dish was a stunner.
Similar props to the $22 lobster crab
cake, accented by sweet shallot chutney
and garlic aioli and served with aromatic
jasmine rice and vegetables. This dish
was plenty pleasing to a guest already
enamored of her salad course. For her
“iced plate salad” – hence the Ice part of
the establishment’s name – she chose the
Orange Cognac: field greens heaped with
cranberries, candied walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese and drizzled amply with (you
got it) orange-cognac dressing. Maybe the
best salad she’s ever had, she said, though
she also has plenty of love to pass out to
previously sampled artichoke-baconSee RESTAURANT, Page 7

720316

THE GUIDE

THE GUIDE

FUTURE

Model Railroad Open House at the
Anthracite Model Railroad Club,
1057 Hanover Court, Hazle Township. With detailed scenes of Jim
Thorpe, Eckley Miners Village, the
Jeddo Breaker, the city of Hazleton
and other local communities. Noon
to 7 p.m. Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m.
Sunday; 1 to 7 p.m. Jan. 14; 1 to 5
p.m. Jan. 15. 459-1804 or amrclub.org.
New England Contra Dance, with
music by the Wyoming Valley
House Band (banjoist Chris Martin,

Best Bet
If you were disappointed about the cancellation of the Bloomsburg
Fair in September, you
can get your fix of
livestock, horse and
tractor pulls, rodeos,
cooking demonstrations and agricultural exhibits at the
annual Pennsylvania Farm Show: From Farm Gate to
Dinner Plate, the largest indoor agricultural exposition in
the country with 6,000 animals, 10,000 competitive
exhibits and the popular food court offering Pennsylvania products such as the show’s famous baked potatoes.
The Farm Show Complex is at North Cameron and Maclay
streets in Harrisburg, and the show runs from 9 a.m. to 9
p.m. Saturday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan.
14. Admission is free, but parking is $10. Information and
complete schedule at farmshow.state.pa.us or call 717787-5275.

Get The Beneﬁts
You Deserve!

Social Security
Disability

Claimants represented by
attorneys are more successful
in obtaining beneﬁts. Call me
for a FREE CONSULTATION.
I can help.
Member of the National
Organization of Social Security
Claimants’ Representatives

At 56, Bill Hartmann still treasures a song he wrote in elementary school, so much so that it’s
earned a spot on his first album,
“Now and Then.”
“I Remember” is one of nine
originals on the album, whose
songs were all written while the
Mountain Top native was in
Northeastern Pennsylvania or
had the area in mind.
Hartmann has lived in Florida
since 1991, but he never forgot his
roots, which go way back. At 9, he
began lessons on a Fender electric guitar. In 1973 he bought his
first 12-string guitar, now his instrument of choice.
Hartmann, who looks to evoke
emotions with his music, is inspired by Harry Chapin, a folkrock singer-songwriter known
for his storytelling song style.
“It seems that I’ll put together
a whole song trying to reach that
person that may be experiencing
the same thing, almost as a way
to say, ‘Listen, don’t worry about
it. It may get better, it may not,
but either way you’ll deal with it
and move on.’ ”
Two songs on Hartmann’s new
album are attributed to friends
Joe Agerkis and Bill Higgs, both
of whom still live in Mountain
Top. Agerkis was a fellow student
at St. Jude School in the 1960s,
and Higgs graduated from Crestwood High School with Hartmann in 1974. He keeps in touch
with both.
He won’t say which song belongs to whom but will only discuss the subject matter.
“So Easy” is “about someone
who always wanted to take the
easy way out,” Hartmann said. “It
was always ‘I know there’s a right
way to do this, but I’m going to do

South Floridian Bill Hartmann’s
debut album ‘Now and Then’ is
a musical retelling of his experiences growing up in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

it in the easiest way possible.’ ”
“Truth Hurts” hits upon social
anxieties that befall teenagers.
“It was about a friend I went to
school with who wanted to be
with the ‘cliquey’ people,” Hartmann said. “They’d let him in
when they needed something,
but when they didn’t they’d push
him back out. It was me trying to
say to this person, ‘Hey I’m willing to help you out here if you’d
just listen, but it’s hard when you
don’t like me or really anyone
else when you’re with this certain
group of people.’”
Hartmann said he never imagined he’d make a CD.
“It just so happened that I talked to a guy at an open mic who
owned a small studio. I’m so glad
I had the chance.”
“Now and Then” can be purchased online at www.billhartmannmusic.com.
•••
Local alternative-rock band

Cathedra will be out in full force
this weekend in support of its debut EP, “State of Being,” released
today. A party will take place at10
p.m. at The Stone Elephant in
Olyphant. The duo will be joined
by 3 to Breathe and One Red X.
Cathedra will then take part in
an acoustically driven show at 9
p.m. tomorrow at Diane’s Deli in
Pittston. Speak Hands for Me,
Ashes for Trees and The Wraith
also will perform.
•••
When it’s almost but not quite
the weekend and the party-minded are looking for something to
carry them to Friday, a night out
with Toolshed Jack – 7 p.m.
Thursday at Breakers at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs –
might be in order.
Toolshed Jack is an up-tempo
cover band that performs classic
rock, ’80s and ’90s hits and every
genre from hair metal to alternative to rap.

Don’t just watch a movie, experience it!
All Stadium Seating and Dolby Surround Sound
ALL FEATURES NOW PRESENTED IN DIGITAL FORMAT

Avoid the lines: Advance tickets available from Fandango.com
Rating Policy Parents and/or Guardians (Age 21 and older) must
accompany all children under 17 to an R Rated feature
*No passes accepted to these features.
**No restricted discount tickets or passes accepted to these features.
***3D features are the regular admission price plus a surcharge of $2.50
D-Box Motion Seats are the admission price plus an $8.00 surcharge
First Matinee $5.25 for all features (plus surcharge for 3D features).

Christmas with a Twist, a Christian
oncert, sponsored by Making a
Difference Ministries. Mohegan Sun
Arena, 255 Highland Park Blvd.,
Wilkes-Barre Township. Saturday
with concert at 6 p.m. and Penguins
game at 7 p.m. $21, $19, $16 includes
concert, game and giveaways. Reservations: 970-3607.
Tony Roi: The Elvis Experience, a
tribute to the King on what would
have been his 77th birthday. Mount

The Sultans of
String will travel
from Canada on
Monday to visit
WVIA Studios in
Pittston for a
live radio Homegrown Music Concert. Enjoy a global tapestry courtesy of a
six-string violinist, dueling guitar wizards, bass masters and
Cuban percussionists. The music starts at 8 p.m. in the Sordoni High-Definition Theater. Tickets are free, but reserve
early at 655-2808 or online at wvia.org.

SALESMAN
Continued from page 3

their youth.
“They look like the older version to the audience, but to Willy
they look as they did when they
were young,” Herbert said, explaining all the activity.
“I don’t have to go to the gym,”
said Hinton, who as Happy lies
on his back and pedals his feet in
the air. “That’s what rehearsal is
for.”
With “Death of a Salesman,” rehearsal is also for working on the

RESTAURANT
Continued from page 4

this is the kind of place you’ll
want to check it out. The pretty
pot encourages you to linger,
though maybe not for too long.
Fire & Ice hours, it’s worth
noting, are curiously short, with
dinner ending at 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and even
earlier other days, so you might
want to stay aware of that.
Not that you’ll be pushed out
the door, mind. You might even
find your friendly server chatting up a storm, even as the rest
of the restaurant fades to black.
If that bothers you, well, you’ll
just have to arrive earlier next
time, won’t you?

JAN. 11, 2012 - JAN. 16, 2012
1-800-745-3000

CONTEST TICKET WINNERS
Jacob Hull - Duryea

Tyler Kowalski - Glen Lyon

Jessica Cervenak - Tunkhannock
Winner may
pick tickets up at:

Ringling.com

McKenzie Obitz - Wilkes-Barre

Blase Twardowski - Pittston
The Times Leader
15 N. Main Street, Wilkes-Barre
Between 8:30am and 5:00pm
Identification is required.

THE TIMES LEADER

watch
us on

PAGE 7

roasted tomato and stepped-up
Caesar salads.
Desserts, too, are notable,
coming as they do in $3 justenough portions. Crème brulee
and a Death By Chocolate parfait were less sinful than usual
by diminution but all the more
appreciated for that reason. A
pot of French-press coffee for
$4.95 was a perfect partner.
If you haven’t had French
press – it’s a bit of an effort –

nuances of the characters’ emotions, from hope to grief, from regret to despair.
“It’s a long play; very emotional,” said John Sherrick of Nanticoke, who plays Willy Loman.
“You have to ride a see-saw in
there.”
The play is set in the late1940s,
but the director expects audiences will watch Willy and Linda discussing their household budget
and see a correlation to today’s
difficult economic times.
“It remains my hope that this
play not be treated as any kind of
exercise in nostalgia,” Kramer
said. “The story is important because of the here and now.”

THE GUIDE

THE GUIDE

Still Showing

THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN –
Tintin, the intrepid reporter who looks
like a boy but is actually a man, is a
beloved world icon but not well-known in
the states. Until now. PG for mock violence. 107 minutes. ★★★
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED — It’s diminutive friends
overboard on a vacation cruise. G. 87
minutes. ★ 1/2
THE DARKEST HOUR – In Moscow, five
young people lead the charge against an
alien race. PG-13 for sci-fi violence and
some language. 89 minutes. ★★
THE DESCENDANTS – George Clooney
is a lawyer coping with a family crisis
and daunting inheritance. 115 minutes. R
for profanity, drugs, adult themes.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO — David Fincher orchestrates a
stark but enthralling adaptation of the
first novel in Stieg Larsson’s trilogy. R
for brutal violence, rape, torture, strong
sexuality, graphic nudity and language.
158 minutes. ★★★ 1/2
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — GHOST
PROTOCOL — This is the best of the
“Impossible” movies and, luckily for Tom
Cruise, one of his finest action flicks.
PG-13 for intense action and violence.
132 minutes. ★★★
THE MUPPETS — A welcome return for
the Henson creations. PG for mild rude
humor. 110 minutes, including an amusing
preceding “Toy Story” short. ★★★
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN — Michelle
Williams gives a thoroughly committed
performance as Marilyn Monroe. But the
script doesn’t offer much substance or
subtlety. R for language. 101 minutes. ★★
NEW YEAR’S EVE — Garry Marshall
again directs a script that weaves together a dozen or so plotlines crisscrossing a holiday prone to sentimentality.
PG-13 for language, sexual references. 117
minutes. ★ 1/2
SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF
SHADOWS — Robert Downey Jr. and
Jude Law bicker, banter, bob and weave
with diminishing returns. PG-13 for
intense violance, action and drug material. 129 minutes. ★ 1/2
THE SITTER — Jonah Hill, world’s worst
babysitter. Enough said. R for crude/
sexual humor, pervasive language, drug
material and violence. 81 minutes. ★ 1/2
WAR HORSE — Steven Spielberg’s
sweeping, historical epic. PG-13 for
intense war violence. 146 minutes. ★★
WE BOUGHT A ZOO — A family buys a
zoo. It’s as high-concept as you can get
but equally straightforward and surprisingly charming. PG for language and
theme. 123 minutes. ★★ 1/2
YOUNG ADULT — Charlize Theron,
anti-hero, returns to her Minnesota small
town to pry her high-school sweetheart
away from his wife and newborn daughter. R for language and sexual content.
94 minutes. ★★★

he question at the
heart of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is
simple: Is a Soviet secret
agent at the highest echelons
of British intelligence? Getting to the answer, however,
couldn’t be more deliciously,
thrillingly complex.

Starring a surprising Gary Oldman and masterfully directed by
Tomas Alfredson, “Tinker Tailor”
comes by that complexity honestly, courtesy of the subtle, allusive
1974 John le Carre novel set in a
merciless espionage world. This is
a film to which very close attention must be paid, but the rewards
are considerable.
Swedish director Alfredson has
come up with a film rich in incident, atmosphere and personality,
a film that leaves us hanging on by
the barest skin of our teeth as we
try to figure out who is doing what
to whom and why. The spy trade
doesn’t get more exciting.
Alfredson has accomplished all
this in the face of considerable obstacles. Not only is Le Carre’s book
anything but straightforward, it’s
already been made into a six-hour
British miniseries starring an impeccable Alec Guinness as inscrutable protagonist George Smiley.
The screenwriters were equal to
the first part of the challenge, art-

fully compressing the story while
understanding that in this world
the spoken and unspoken are
equally important.
Blessed with a superb ensemble
cast, Alfredson displays an uncanny feeling for atmosphere and
mood, for letting the pitiless, almost Scandinavian gloom of this
tawdry, amoral universe seep into
its physical objects.
Oldman, not an obvious choice,
is superb. Though Smiley has, in
Le Carre’s words, an espionage
past “so complex that even he himself could not remember all the
enemies he might have made,” he
is lackluster in appearance, “one
of London’s meek who do not inherit the earth.”
Oldman threw himself into the
Smiley role, becoming a man who
by all appearances is tired, colorless and defeated, the drab epitome of unthreatening drone. But
in his methodical way, Smiley is a
master at his game, someone you
underestimate at your peril.
It’s not Smiley we meet first in
1973 London but his superior,

Control (John Hurt at his best),
who opens his door in the dead of
night to top operative Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong). “You weren’t followed?” are the first anxious words he says, and the game
is at once afoot.
Control sends Prideaux to Hungary to meet with a general considering defecting who claims to
know the name of a double agent
the Soviets have placed at the top
level of British intelligence, called
the Circus by insiders.
Like everything else in “Tinker
Tailor,” that trip does not go as
planned, and Control and Smiley,
his No. 2, are forced out of the Circus and into early retirement.
With its infighting and turf wars,
the Circus was hardly Eden, but it
is the only world Smiley’s known.
Then, unexpectedly, senior government official Oliver Lacon (Simon McBurney) calls Smiley back
into the game. Lacon confirms
what Control suspected: The mole
exists. But who is he, and how
does he operate?
Aided by the younger Peter
Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), Smiley must decide which
of the main suspects identified by
Control is the Soviet mole.
Whoever it is, Smiley knows the
implacable hand of Karla, Moscow’s pre-eminent spy master, is
likely behind it all.
Complex as this may sound, it is
only the merest outline of perhaps
the great spy tale of our time. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is an enormously impressive piece of work.

CLOSING SOON
The Language of Nature, colorful works by the
Verve Vertu Art Studio. Through Saturday at
Marquis Art and Frame, 122 S. Main St., WilkesBarre. 208-5305.
Faculty and Alumni Art Exhibit. Through Saturday at the Schulman Gallery, Luzerne County
Community College, Nanticoke. 740-0727.
Holiday Members Show. Through Sunday at
Artspace Gallery, 221 Center St., Bloomsburg.
784-0737.
Beauty of Nature, photographs by George Clark.
Through Jan. 30 at the Wyoming County Courthouse Gallery, 1 Courthouse Square, Tunkhannock. 836-3200.
The Polish in Luzerne County. Through Jan. 31 at
the Luzerne County Historical Society Museum,
69 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre. $4. 822-1727.
Mad About Hats, vintage headwear. Through
Jan. 31 at the Luzerne County Historical Society

writer/director John Wells attempts
to chart the downward spiral of the
American Dream. Ambitious indeed,
but Wells succeeds beautifully,
finding drama in the men’s search
for self-esteem via new jobs. Affleck
is particularly effective as Bobby, a
salesman shocked to discover he
doesn’t need a Porsche or a pricey
country-club membership to be
happy.
•••
LEAVING (2009, IFC, UNRATED,
$25): A housewife and stay-athome mom (Kristin Scott Thomas)
leaves her well-ordered life behind
to take up with a sexy Spanish
builder (Sergi Lopez) in Catherine
Corsini’s French-language romance.
The ending feels a smidge abrupt,
but this gorgeously photographed
melodrama will hold you in thrall.
It’s a wild ride through the dark side
of erotic attraction.
Amy Longsdorf also profiles celebrities for the Sunday Etc. section of The
Times Leader.

‘Bumble Bee on Flower’ by Crystal Wightman.

Swoyersville artist Crystal Wightman’s first solo gallery showing
opens Monday at King’s College, with
scenic landscapes that detail ‘The
Small Side of Life,’ achieved by macro
photography. The artist hopes visitors may see the everyday beauty
they fail to notice. The show is at the
Widmann Gallery in the SheehyFarmer Campus Center in WilkesBarre through Feb. 23. An Artist Talk
is planned for 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 20.
Regular gallery hours are 9 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

New on DVD
REVIEWS OF RECENT OR
UPCOMING DVD RELEASES:
•••
“APOLLO 18” (PG-13, 2011,
ANCHOR BAY): Like the
tagline says, there’s a reason we stopped going to
the moon after Apollo 17,
and it had nothing to do
with the national budget.
As it turns out, there was a
top-secret 18th Apollo
mission.
•••
“FINAL DESTINATION 5”
(R, 2011, WARNER
BROS.): It’s hard not to
smirk when a detective
asks Sam (Nicholas D’Agosto) how his premonition of
an extremely deadly bridge
collapse provided him a
chance to pull his friends
off the bridge and save
their lives mere moments
before it collapsed for real.

Maslow Faculty Reading Series, poetry,
fiction, non-fiction and films, nightly from
7 to 9. Kicks off Sunday at Barnes &
Noble, 7 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, with
seven authors. Continues at the Henry
Student Center, 84 E. South St., Wilkes
University, Wilkes-Barre, on Monday with
films and talkback sessions, Tuesday with
poetry and fiction readings, Wednesday
with readings by six playwrights and
Thursday with works by faculty and alumni. Free. 408-4779.
Book Signing, with Mollie Marti, author
of the new release about Judge Max
Rosenn “Walking with Justice: Uncommon Lessons from One of Life’s Greatest
Mentors.” Barnes & Noble, South Main
Street, Wilkes-Barre. 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday. 208-4700.

•••
LEBANON, PA (2011, MONARCH,
PG-13, $25): Pleasantly low-key and
bittersweet, Ben Hickernell’s second
feature follows a Philadelphia advertising exec (Josh Hopkins) as he
travels to rural Pennsylvania to take
care of his late father’s estate and
winds up enjoying the peace and
quiet of small-town life. Not that his
new routine is without drama. He
befriends a pregnant teenager
(Rachel Kitson) and falls in love with
a married woman (Samantha Mathis.) An out-of-left-field treat filmed
entirely in the Keystone State.
•••
THE COMPANY MEN (2010, ANCHOR BAY, R, $30): With this
riveting look at three victims of
corporate downsizing (Ben Affleck,
Chris Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones),

THIS WEEK: JAN. 6 TO
12 , 2012

T H I S W E E K : JA N . 6 TO 12

Movie Amy
hat better way to celebrate the arrival of 2012
than by checking out
movies about fresh beginnings?

Reads

Best Bet

THE GUIDE

THE GUIDE

THE GUIDE

THE GUIDE

CELEBRITY Q&A
BY R.D. HELDENFELS

JUMBLE

UNIVERSAL SUDOKU

BY MICHAEL ARGIRION & JEFF KNUREK

Searching for old
movie titles, videos
Q. I have been looking for a Christmastype movie. I believe “The Red Shoes”
is the title. It stars Rob Lowe and a little
boy trying to buy a pair of red shoes for
his dying mother. Is there a DVD or VHS
that you know of?
A. The name of the movie is “The
Christmas Shoes,” the same name as the
song which inspired the film. It has been
released on DVD.
Q. Is Laurence Fox on the “Inspector
Lewis” mysteries related to Edward Fox,
who played in “Masterpiece” plays such
as “Shaka Zulu”?
A. Laurence Fox, who plays Detective
Sgt. Hathaway in the series of programs
airing under the “Masterpiece Mystery”
banner, is the son of actor James Fox, the
nephew of Edward Fox and the cousin
of Emilia Fox (Merlin), a daughter of
Edward. Laurence is also married to the
actress Billie Piper (“Secret Diary of a
Call Girl,” “Doctor Who”).

PREVIOUS DAY’S SOLUTION

CRYPTOQUOTE

Q. In 1984, there was a CBS Christmasthemed musical hour starring Kenny
Rogers and Dolly Parton, called “Kenny
and Dolly: A Christmas to Remember.”
Was it ever released on home video?
A. As far as I can tell, the special, tied to
the Rogers-Parton audio recording “Once
Upon a Christmas,” is not available on an
authorized video.
Do you have a question or comment
for the mailbag? Write to me at
rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com or by
regular mail to the Akron Beacon Journal,
44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309.

HOROSCOPE
BY HOLIDAY MATHIS

PAGE 10

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’ll deliver

lighthearted fun. It will be good for relationships of all kinds, including professional. Your quick wit will be a magnet
for new friends.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’ll feel
unburdened by responsibilities. Feeling
this way makes it true to some extent.
Your schedule will be clear of worry.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Could it be that
the energy you give to your goals have
greater power than the actual steps you
take to make them happen?

ON THE WEB
For more Sudoku go to www.timesleader.com

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’ll be

spending time with a complimentary
individual. This person will confirm your
attractiveness, not that you need such
an ego boost. Your own opinion of yourself is what really matters.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There will be people
on either side of an issue trying to get
you to side with them or take action on
their behalf. How do you know whether
you’re doing the right thing? It feels
right.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The only way to
see the big picture is to go to the top of
the proverbial mountain. You can do this
in your mind, or you can do it physically
by heading to the highest point in your
immediate geography.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Accepting

reality is the first step to co-creating
it. Your will is strong, but the universal
will is stronger. You’ll defer to it as you
realize that any other move would be
pointless.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You may be
prone to silly mistakes. Try to slow down
and think things through. Luckily, your
reflexes are so quick that even if you
blunder, you can probably recover without mishap.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). If you
don’t get what you want right away,
it may be the best thing for you and
everyone else. Sometimes what doesn’t
happen may keep something really catastrophic from happening.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Your sense

of fun is going strong. You have responsibilities, but you don’t let them define
who you are.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The world
desperately will require your patience.
So few people really are patient these
days, and so many rely on patience from
others.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). New resources
will inspire you to put an effort into raising your attractiveness quotient on both
the inside and the outside.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 6). You have
the perfect combination of passion and
practicality, and you’ll apply yourself.
Cancer and Leo people adore you. Your
lucky numbers are: 3, 38, 14, 30 and 15.

Girl who thinks she’s abused gets scolded by fellow teens
Dear
Readers: Yesterday I printed
letters from
adults in response to a letter from “Emotionally Abused in California”
(Nov. 2), the 15-year-old who
felt her mother was treating
her unfairly. Today we’ll hear
from teenage readers:
Dear Abby: I’m a 14-year-old
girl. My mom showed me
the letter from “Emotionally
Abused” and I almost died! Her

DEAR ABBY
ADVICE
mom sounds just like mine. I
am not allowed to wear clothing that shows too much skin
or get into a car with a teenage
boy. I have to do my own laundry, clean my room, cook dinner and hem my own jeans.
Every night our entire family sits down for dinner. My
parents always know my plans
when I’m out with my friends.
I’m not the perfect daughter,

but I’m glad I’m being raised
with integrity, responsibility
and a whole lot of chores.
— Cooperating Teen in New
Jersey
Dear Abby: From one teen
to another: You’re not being
treated like a criminal. Your
mom is doing you a huge favor.
She’s preparing you for the real
world by making you pay for
your own things.
And about your friends, she
just wants to know who they
are. She’s a single mom, and

GOREN BRIDGE

she’s trying to protect you.
You need to be easier on her
and try to see things through
her eyes. Not everything she
does is an attack on you — in
fact, it’s the opposite.
— Fellow California Teen
Dear Abby: I’m also a 15-yearold Catholic girl. “Emotionally
Abused” should be grateful
she can attend church because
it means we have religious
freedom in our country. She is
going to private school, which
means her mother loves her

THE GUIDE

THE GUIDE

enough to put her daughter’s
needs ahead of her own. She
needs to rethink who is being
unreasonable.
— Teen in Florida
Dear Readers: To read a longer version of this column, go
to DearAbby.com.
To receive a collection of Abby’s most
memorable — and most frequently
requested — poems and essays, send a
business-sized, self-addressed envelope,
plus check or money order for $3.95
($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby’s
“Keepers,” P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris,
IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)

Pentagon war room, as planes with
bombs head toward Moscow.
11:45 p.m. TCM Network A TV executive boosts her ratings with a mad
anchorman who thinks he speaks
for God.

W E D N E S D AY
9:15 a.m. FMC Garden of Evil A
woman hires an ex-sheriff, a card
shark and a killer to take her to her
husband, trapped in a gold mine.

T H U R S D AY

10 p.m. TCM Dr. Strangelove Or:
How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love the Bomb President
Muffley and his advisers man the

8 p.m. TCM The Life and Death of
Colonel Blimp Boer War subaltern
becomes colonel, has three lovers.
2:30 a.m. TCM The Red Shoes A
ballerina loves a ballet composer
but dances for an obsessive impresario.

Show Actress Rosie Perez; the
cast of TV’s ‘Mob Wives.’ (N)
(TVPG)
noon 56 Jerry Springer A woman
wants her sister to pay for sleeping with her husband; a man
confesses to being unfaithful. (N)
(TV14)
noon 28 The Nate Berkus Show
Living paycheck to paycheck;
actress Linda Evans. (TVPG)
2 p.m. 3, 22 The Talk Actor Tom
Selleck; personal trainer Dolvett
Quince. (N) (TV14)
3 p.m. 3 The Doctors A flatter
stomach in five days; enhancing
areas of the body. (N) (TVPG)
3 p.m. 22 Swift Justice With
Jackie Glass A man wants a bar
owner to pay for damages from
a fight. (TVG)
3 p.m. 56 Rachael Ray Marcia
Cross; a mother of two sets of
twins gets a makeover. (N) (TVG)
3 p.m. 28 The Dr. Oz Show A guest
says anyone can turn his or her
body into a calorie-burning
machine. (N) (TVPG)
5 p.m. FNC The Five A rotating
ensemble of five FOX person-

A new Monday war of the roses has commenced, and, ABC,
you rascal. Straight off: The
Grandma thing was a big scam,
which is no big surprise. Turns
out the lady of a certain age did
fall “in love” with “Bachelor”
Ben, but for her granddaughter
Brittney. Cute. And strategic, I
suppose. If the measure of a
man is how he treats his mama,
the measure of a woman must
be how she treats her Gramma.
The other lasses were miffed,
but Miss B. got her rose.
At least she’s tolerable and
kept it clean, much like Jamie
Otis, for whom I’ll also do bidding. Ben should keep keeping
the 25-year-old labor-and-delivery nurse from Dryden, N.Y.,
who obviously has the most fascinating story: an absent father
and mother and custody of several siblings from a young age.
That’s quite a twist on petitioning for lifelong love having already brought your own children to the table. Equally fascinating? Jamie reportedly has
never had a real boyfriend, so
we’ll assume no pornographic
cell-phone pics will surface. For
now at least, she and Brittney
are the good girls.
Ben finds Jamie good-looking as well. She’s one of only
two women about whom he
verbalized his approval after

she walked away. Alas, the other was Courtney, the model not
short on self-love. If the laws of
animal attraction apply, we’re
stuck with her, perhaps almost
to the bitter end.
First-impression roses rarely
hold, but don’t count out Lindzi
with a z, who rode in on her
high horse (literally) and impressed our boy, unlike Lyndsie
with an s, a Brit who proved the
sexy accent’s more of a gal pull.
•••
No fan of this “Bachelor”
business but do like a good reality brawl? The next “Celebrity
Apprentice” board-room beatdown begins Feb. 12 on NBC.
The comb-over king has picked
his peeps, and “American Idol”
Clay Aiken leads the list. He’ll
join: mob widow Victoria Gotti;
race-car driver Michael Andretti; Jersey’s “finest” housewife
Teresa Guidice, comics Arsenio
Hall and Lisa Lampanelli; exMiss Universe Dayana Mendoza and model Cheryl Tiegs;
rocker Dee Snider and “Chopper” Paul Teutul Sr.; radio host
Adam Carolla; singer-actress
Aubrey O’Day, singers Debbie
Gibson and Tia Carrere and actress Patricia Velasquez; magician Penn Jillette; Trekker George Takei; and, finally, “Incredible Hulk” Lou Ferrigno. Can
we be so lucky as to witness a
mad, green metamorphosis in
the house that Donald built?

RELAX
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The Seafood Is Fresh
The Servers
Are Just Friendly
There’s a lot happening at
Cooper’s Seafood House.
The lobsters are boiling.
The clams are steaming.
The chicken wings are hot.
The oysters are chilling – they’re so cool.
Plus the 400 brands of beer are cold.

Banquet Room is the perfect place to celebrate life’s most
memorable occasions. Call 283-6260 to reserve your date today!

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